The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for felling trees, in particular with a forestry vehicle. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a control system for a tree feller-buncher that leans a felled tree in a controlled manner.
Tree felling is the process of downing individual trees. Tree felling can be performed by hand (i.e., using an axe, saw, chainsaw, or other handheld device) or with mechanical assistance (i.e., using one or more pieces of logging equipment). A tree feller-buncher is a motorized mechanical felling vehicle that carries an attachment that cuts and gathers one or more trees during the process of tree felling. During operation, after the tree feller-buncher engages a tree and cuts it down using the attachment, the tree feller-buncher may move the cut tree. When movement includes rotation of the tree feller-buncher while continuing to engage the cut tree, the attachment can incur a high torsional load from a high center of gravity of the tree being moved (or accelerated). To withstand the high torsional load and minimize a structural failure, a more robust and heavy attachment is often used. However, when the weight of the attachment is increased, additional counterweight must be added to balance the tree feller-buncher. The additional weight of the attachment and counterweight increases the total weight of the tree feller-buncher. Also, a higher weight tree feller-buncher increases ground pressure, increases a risk for environmental disturbance, and requires larger drive motors to operate (e.g., track drive, etc.).